Billy Corgan on the magic of analog

Is there magic in the wires?  Billy has a lot more to say...see link in bio.
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#smashingpumpkins #billycorgan #analogvsdigital #analog #plugins

[abstractvectors]

True to an extent, like traditional wound guitar pickups can sound slightly different from one another even with the same winds and build process. I recently heard Mick of slipknot talk about his old cab being in a damp environment and how he thought there was some kind of mold on his drivers that affected the tone. Ive been enjoying the customization side of all the new tech but there is that beautiful side of analog gear that with time and pressure you can really end up with a unique gem.

[pooki]

I once got to take an electronic music class taught by Herbert Deutsch, the cocreator of the Moog synthesizer. Was a really neat experience.

[TheZappazapper]

Be that as it may, Billy Corgan and the Smashing Pumpkins are famous because of Billy's ability to write compelling songs, the band's ability to perform those songs, and their ability to form an aesthetic they can use to present those songs, not because there's some magic going on in the wires of Billy's Big Muff. At the end of the day, plugins will do just fine for anyone that can write songs as good as Billy Corgan.

[kentpierce]

I absolutely agree with him. As someone with a small home studio. Analog gear is not a better sound but a different sound that alot of people are in to.

[bizzzzzzle]

It all comes down to chaos and randomness, you lose that with plugins, and in that chaos is where the “magic” can happen.

[hmnd]

Kind of like the grit of William Gibson’s Neuromancer trilogy, where the world is riddled with carcinogens and built up on infinite layers of ‘gomi’… it’s true that the flicker of a candle lives in the circuits, like a ghost in the machine, in the same way pink noise can never match the whistling of the desert.

[kevinkilpatrick]

it’s imperfectly controlled variables and physical hand control

[evilpandakillabzonattkoccu]

True, to a degree. I mean, everyone has a unique voice....and it's difficult, if not impossible, to emulate it perfectly (even AI uses samples, which isn't the same). 🤷🏽‍♂️

[chadgrov]

It just sounds better. I don’t care about the hipster stereotype. I’m a 90’s kid and I primarily came up with CD’s and Cassetes. had a couple .45’s when in was like 5 -MJ bad and Billy Idol lol. But when vinyl kinda crept back in the late oughts say 2008/9 and I started buying some, and got a working turntable and receiver the difference blew me away. I always liken it to “close your eyes and tell me they’re not playing live in your living room right now”. And with harder rock like pumpkins or Metallica or whoever an analog single doesn’t start being belligerent at louder volumes like digital does. Listen to Pink Floyd Animals front to back on CD or Spotify garbage and then on vinyl. tell me which is better.

[mattorlando]

Idk, have you heard the bogren distortion plugin?

[robbodner]

I believe there's magic in Jimmy Chamberlain. Any other drummer just wouldn't work for pumpkins.

[JensHilzensauer]

Apart from technical quality differences by handmade products people underestimate Placebo and the power of imagination lot.

There are studies with Parkinson’s patients where they use guided imagery and focused attention and their hands stop shaking. Braid used the imagination on his patients to do surgery when anesthesia wasn’t available and we use a similar concept today for neurosurgeries. Colored pain pills work significantly better than white ones for example, doctors in white coats are taken more serious and people believe them to be more competent and so on. The placebo primes our brain differently. If I believe this is a magical music machine which gives me the greatest sound possible I will treat it differently, activate different neurons and end up at a different result which may even be romanticized and exaggerated at the end.
I’m not saying don’t buy analog, I just find it fascinating how our brains work.

[OlyGordon.Specdrum]

Is the full interview available online?

[LyhzHf]

Complexity and richness of the analog.

[goobah]

Same with movies being shot on film vs digital

[lostandfound]

Bob says this perfectly in the Moog documentary.

[ReductioAdAbsurdum]

*"I'm still a believer that the right piece of gear with the right sort of signal passing through it, there's something that you could not in a million years get a plugin to emulate."*

Complete nonsense. Name a piece a gear, and I'll arrange a blind test that you'll fail. 100%.

It's no different than the superstitious rituals some baseball players have. Obviously the reason you hit a no hitter has nothing to do with the fact that you wore two different color socks. But if it brings you comfort to believe that, and believing that makes you play better, then by all means, pay attention to your socks. Just don't articulate it out loud, as if it has some basis in objective reality.

*"I believe that thing still exists."*

I doesn't, but if believing it does works for you, go for it.

[Pdbottleneck]

Your scarf ALWAYS looks kind of stupid Billy. Thanks for the cool songs tho

[BubbaZen]

analogue breathes. it's more alive

[Mr.D-kl]

He's aging into an old Puerto Rican bodega owner from Humboldt who sold the building and now lives in Evanston with his 2nd wife "Muhkayleigh" She sells essential oils for pet acupuncture and weaves holistic slippers from dried guineo leaves.